Tierra Encantada Charter School discussion

How is awareness of rank observed in the drinking of the palm wine? Note this chapter contains another proverb about proverbs. How does share-cropping work? What is the relationship of women to agriculture? How does Okonkwo react to "the worst year in living memory?"

The higher your rank during the drinking of the palm wine, the sooner you get to drink it. For example, when Okonkwo brings wine to Nwakibie to convince him to share-crop, the wine was drunk in a certain order, "The first cup went to Okonkwo, who must taste his wine before anyone else. Then the group drank, beginning with the eldest man. When everyone had drunk two or three horns, Nwakibie sent for his wives. Some of them were not at home and only four came in. 'Is Anasi not in?' he asked them. They said she was coming. Anasi was the first wife adn the others could not drink before her, and so they stood waiting." Share-cropping works by getting others to give you seed yams, you farming the yams, and giving the end crop, divided equally among the people who gave you the yams and you, to their respected owners allowing you to get your own crop bigger. You get to keep all seed yams. The seed yams are yams that are not big enough to be eaten or are unfit to be eaten. Those yams are planted next year and new yam plants grow and the yams are harvested. Women grow lesser plants to yams like beans and cassava and they cook most of the food grown. Okonkwo reacts to "The worst year in livung memory" by saying since he didn't cave then nothing would cause him to give up. There were many other hardships in his life, but since he survived the first year of planting and harvesting, he could survive anything.

i was wondering why they looked at the women to be goddesses and that there were more goddesses then there gods? Because it usually goes the other way around. also why would someone kill them self because they had a bad year farming?

The way the drinking of palm wine went was the person who brought it had to drink first then they started with the eldest man in the room and went down from there. Share-cropping works by one man asking another man for yam seeds and if the person says yes then that person would give the other a amount of seeds and then that person would be entitled to giving the other most of their crop, they only got to keep 1/3 of their crop.

Women didn't get to grow yams. This was because they called the "Yams, the king of crops was a mans food". Women got to grow coco yams, beans and cassava. Okonkwo reacted to the "worst year in living memory" with a mad reaction. But then after that year he said "if i can survive that i can survive anything". So thus meaning that he got over it and had to move on.

how they drink palm wine is the man who brought it drinks first then the oldest man and they go down from there. share cropping is were one man gives another seed and that man plants and grows them and then he gets to keep 1/3 of the harvest . women still grow things but they don't grow yams because yam is the mans crop.the worst year in living memory was really bad but Okonkwo survived it. he said "that it was because of his inflexible will ".

The oldest of the men present is the first to drink the palm wine because they are the most honorable and that is respected in the culture of the Umuoufia.

It represents that the older men drink the wine first because they are the most respected of ofomiA and also the one that buys the wine is one of the first ones to drink it

Question 1.

Age and titles decide who get to partake in the drinking of the palm wine first. So the old people and the high ranking "ozo" would drink the palm wine first.

Question 2.

One man offers his seed ,and the other man does all the work and farming. The man who gave the seed gets most of the seasons sow. The other gets the rest giving him the ability to start his own crop next season.

Question 3.

Women handled the less manly crops. Men handled the main crops ( Yams, and coco ).

Question 4.

He reacts by being strong and tenacious. He never gives up and thinks positively. This is a good thing to do when the going gets tough.

With the drinking of wine the higher respected and ranked you are the sooner you can drink. This helps people to know who is the highest and who is not. The people who are higher are the ones who have better crops and are better off. This helps with share cropping or when someone gives another person seeds from his crops and the other plants them. But men mostly did this women were harvesters too but they planted lesser crops that did not help with ranking.

When drinking the palm wine, the one who brought it drank before anyone but then the one with the highest ranking drank and then the next with the highest ranking and so on until everyone has gone. Share cropping is a way of gradually building your own farm. You would borrow some one else's seeds and you would grow and care for them, then at the end of harvest season you would only get one third of the outcome crops and return the rest to the lender. Women also play an important part in agriculture. They grow easy crops like coco-yams, cassava and beans, they also did a lot of the cooking and cared for animals like goats and hens. When ever Okonkwo remembers "the worst year in loving memory" he reacts by seeing it as a triumph which proves that he can survive anything. To him it was something that made him stronger than before, he had a proud heart and didn't give up when he lost 400 yams.

Vanessa wrote: "When drinking the palm wine, the one who brought it drank before anyone but then the one with the highest ranking drank and then the next with the highest ranking and so on until everyone has gone..."

I think Vanessa's answer satisfies the question requirements very well. I think that Okonkwo is an amazing man in the sense that he would literally die before he gave up on anything. It's shows his toughness when the year was "enough to break the heart of a lion", and men are hanging themselves, but still Okonkwo grew to be a successful warrior and yam farmer.

When people drink palm wine, the one who brought it drinks first. Then the people who have the highest ranking or are the oldest get to drink next. Share cropping is a way to extend your farm by borrowing yam seeds from someone and then planting them. When they harvest it, they give most of their crop to the person/people who lent the seeds to them, they only get to keep 1/3 of the crop. Women grow easy crops like beans, cassava, and coco-yams. Only men grow yams, "the king of all crops." When Okonkwo thinks about "the worst year in living memory" he had lost 400 yams but still thinks of it as an achievment, something he should be proud of. He thinks "since I survived that year, I shall survive anything."

when drinking the palm wine the man who supplies the wine must taste the wine first and then from the eldest man to the youngest."share-cropping was a very slow way of building up a barn of ones own. After all the toil one only got a third of the harvest."(p. 22). Women's crop were coco-yams, beans and cassava. Okonkwo reacted to "the worst year in living memory" by first trying to save the 400 seeds by making "rings of thick sisal leaves"(p.23). Okonkwo shivered when he remembered that year however he did not feel despair in fact he said "since I survived that year" "I shall survive anything." so he saw the fact that he survived that year as an achievement and proof that he was tough and could take anything.

#1; Ages and titles were made by Taking a first taste of palm wine. During this the higher ranking or elders took the first drink #2; one man provides the seed the other does the farming. One gets rest while the other one goes for farming. They take turns #3; woman cropped coco yams and cassava and men cropped yams. Because yams are the king fruit. #4; he is a strong man who sticks for himself and is independent .